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After my last 2 outings with Warpaint resulted in non-completions, I was
looking forward to success at Diablo Vista. Warpaint had been pulled
for a muscle cramp at Shine and Shine IV in April and although he had
done very well at Castle Rock, we ran out of time and didn't complete. I
had made a significant shoeing change before this ride and was very
hopeful that he would move and do well. On my vet's recommendation I
had Warpaint's feet (all 4) done in the "Natural balance" trim. He had
steel St. Croix eventers instead of sneakers or World racing plates. He
moved better and seemed quicker which I guess makes sense because he had
at least an inch less toe hanging out there and was breaking over
sooner.
Warpaint and I got to the ride site around 6:00 pm and I started to set
up camp. Nick was stuck in some nasty traffic and showed up around
7:30. One nice aspect of this ride for us is that it is very close to
home, only about 45 minutes away. Warpaint vetted in with all A's, so I
could stop holding my breath. If you recall, I'm one of the obsessors
so I hold my breath and take each vet check one at a time. This
particular ride site is at a stable that has a race track and since we
were camped on the race track, thats where we went for a warm-up ride.
It was kind of fun and you could see where it would be a blast to let
your horse go (if there weren't cars, trucks, other horses, people,
etc). Warpaint tried to blast around the track but I wasn't going for
it.
The 50 milers had a controlled start at 6:00 am down a private road.
Ride manager/veterinarian Cory Soltau had warned us at the pre-ride
meeting that the road was very slick and we should hand walk our horses
down it. At the end of the private road was another 1.7 miles of road
before we hit the trail. I hadn't really planned on walking all of it
but that's what I did because Warpaint was dancing on the pavement. Ever
since he crashed on the Squaw Valley bicycle path at Tevis last year and
injured his hocks I've been nervous about pavement. Now he had steel
shoes on where before he had sneakers with good traction, so I was extra
cautious. He was a total wiener so by the time I got to the start of
the trail it was probably very close to 7:00 am and all the 25s had left
already. This is where we met Kimberly (of Kimberly and Mystery the
Morab fame). Karen Bottiani was there and I think she was riding drag
and waiting for everyone to leave. I was already sweating like crazy
from trying to control my horse while walking down the road. Warpaint
is at his worst around other horses, so I wasn't really looking forward
to the first part of the ride. Janine of Sportack was taking numbers
when we left and asked me why I was doing the 25. I had to confess that
I was just a very late 50. We've been starting very late at the last
few rides we've done to avoid crowds of horses. As usual at the start,
Warpaint wanted to run like hell and catch every horse. What was
unexpected is that he was like that for most of the day. It's a
good/bad thing. It's great to have a horse that wants to go but its
real hard work to rate him. The other thing is when you have an
Appaloosa with a big white butt and spots, you can't hide your maniacal
horse in the crowd.
We started off picking our way through the 25s. The morning was quite
warm and the beginning of the ride was sort of flat. I passed my
friends Sally Pringle and Jean Schreiber who seemed to be enjoying their
ride. Warpaint was alternately trotting and cantering in a big hurry.
I did get to check out the views while moving along. This part of the
ride went through Morgan Territory regional park and I hadn't been there
before. It is a little bit southwest of Mt. Diablo State Park. It was
pretty much typical Northern California hills with a lot of up and down,
golden grassy hills (our spring green grass is pretty much gone), and
oak trees. I'm a California native and have a strong bias for that type
of scenery.
We got to pass the 100 milers going the other way around 8:00 or 8:30
and I saw a bunch of people I knew or recognized. They weren't spread
out too far at that point and I saw Marcia Smith, Karen Schwartz, Val
Weizer, Scott Wachenheim, Shirley Delsart, and Becky Glaser. We kept
trucking on toward the first vet. I caught up with some of the 50
milers and Carolyn Schultz (this was her horse Elly's first 50) and I
walked into the first check together. Nick was there to crew and we
both sponged Warpaint down with ice water on his neck. This seems to
work fairly well for him. He recovered quickly and we went off for P&Rs
and to see the vet. I obsessed slightly while in line, hoping that
there would be no problems. He trotted out well, still pretty lively
and actually got As on hydration! (Warpaint is almost always a B
student). He was graded an A overall and we went back to let him eat
and rest through the 30 minute hold.
Carolyn Schultz and I tried to ride together when we left the first
check, but that lasted about 500 feet. We went out at the same time as
a group of 2 adults on horses and 3 kids on ponies. Warpaint
immediately wanted to gallop down the hill and away, so we went off at a
barely controlled trot. We were pretty much by ourselves by this time
and just came across a few riders from time to time. The ride back to
the second check was not as wild as the start but I was really surprised
at how much Warpaint still wanted to gallop. There was still a lot of
up and down since we went back essentially the same way we came. I could
keep him at a reasonable pace downhill until he got near the bottom and
wanted to break into a gallop and have the momentum carry him up the
hill. Parts of it were fun and parts were a little scary. One scary
thing is when the Heart rate monitor goes into what I call "the stroke
zone". Warpaint's heart always works harder than any of the arabs that
we ride with, and a lot of times his heart rate goes way up when he's
excited. Sometimes I let him go up the hills fast because he was so
strong and I was tired of hanging on his face to slow him down. Then
you look at the HRM and hope he doesn't drop dead under you at speed.
We got back to the start/lunch stop in about 2 hours, got our P&R pretty
quickly, did minimal obsessing and passed through the vet check. Nick
had a place set up in the shade and we were able to kick back for a
while. This hold was 60 minutes. (This ride had a lot of holds!).
During lunch we visited with Morris Older and his horse Granite and
shared some of our lunch with them. When we left after lunch, Warpaint
was in a slightly more civilized mood. He still wanted to hurry and
this time there weren't any other horses around. I was having a good
time! The trail after lunch headed over to Mt. Diablo State Park's
Curry Point. It was mostly single track trail that wended its way up
and around the hills. There were a lot of trees to ride through which
is fun if you can keep your knees from getting whacked. It was
overgrown enough to make me wonder just how many ticks I would be taking
home with me.
The trail started to head down and when we started back up I thought the
trail was looking more familiar. We were on fire road now and headed
up. I caught up to two riders. One pair was Jamie Averill and her
Anglo My Grey Ghost and the other was a lady from Arroyo Vista riding
her Mustang/Arab cross. We rode on in to Curry Point together. Nick
was again there to crew for Warpaint and feed me. I had stopped most of
my obsessing by this time, although I do reserve a moment of panic on
the trot out. I can't see what he looks like so I'm always holding my
breath when we trot back to the vet. Things went well, and we were back
out on the trail after a 30 minute hold. We only had one more vet check
and then the finish. The other riders that I came in with were out a
couple of minutes before I was so Warpaint and I trucked down the hill
by ourselves. I felt like walking on foot down the hill but after two
other riders passed us I was being dragged downhill so I got back on. I
caught up and passed those two riders and then caught Jamie and the
other lady further down the hill. We rode together for a while, but
Warpaint always had other ideas when it came to trotting. Some people's
horses can trot along nicely with other horses. Warpaint always wants
to speed on ahead until he's sure they aren't very close and then he
slows down. I ended up leaving them on the top of yet another hill with
a spectacular view. We headed down to what turned out to be the
stretch to home. I had a moment of panic when I was heading in and I
saw Pam Loftus coming down a hill to my left. It turns out that she was
on her last loop and I was coming into the 4th vet check. I had a
momentary fear that we after we had done so well all day I had managed
to get lost. Luckily I hadn't screwed up. The last vet check was a
breeze and we had yet another hold but only 15 minutes this time
Warpaint was not very enthusiastic about leaving the vet check. He
thought he was done and didn't see the point in going back out. Once he
got out on the trail he was ready to go. It was great to have so much
horse at the end of the day. The last loop was 4 miles but they went
very quickly over some trail we had gone over earlier in the day. I let
Warpaint go on the last part of the trail into the finish and he felt
fantastic. He passed the last vet check and we had a finish! I think
he could care less, but I was very happy. I started back to camp riding
him but he was jigging! I tried to walk him, but he dragged me! I got
back on and rode most of the way back bouncy but very happy. Back at
camp Warpaint ate everything in sight.
Here is a side note about it being a small (horsey) world that I have to
put in just because I'm so fond of our old retired endurance horse
Rowan. We met Sally Billingsley at the awards dinner and in the course
of making conversation, I mentioned Rowan, which caught Sally's
attention. "Rowan? Do you have a horse named Rowan? A bay?". It turns
out that years ago, Sally dated the guy that we bought Rowie from. He
wanted a horse and she found Rowan for him. Rowan is a very special
animal. He is Nick's first horse and our "beloved pet". We've met 2 of
his former owners and it looks like he has had good homes and been well
taken care of all his life.
This was a great ride and I would definitely go back and do it next
year. The trail was well marked and there was plenty of water. Camp
was fine and dinner was great. Our next outing is Oakland Hills on June
21st (one of my favorite rides), so we'll see how it goes then.
Hopefully I'll have good news to report. Talk to you all then...
Judy Long and Nachi Sunshine (Warpaint)
Hayward, Ca.
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